heyyyyyy! if you're reading this, it means that i've released my new blog location out into the wild! all the content that was on my old blogger site now lives here. it has been a big task to move 4 1/2 years of photos and content to a new platform. at times i wanted to explode/run away/throw my computer through a wall, but it has come together with the help of some awesome folks who helped keep my frustrations with technology at bay.

thanks for the fun logo and extra tech support, james! and so many thank-yous to sara who really helped me make sense of all the back-end technical issues and got me to the point where i could continue working on this without screaming (i'm making myself sound quite violent/angry...but technological difficulties really bog me down sometimes). i'm not sure how a few things behind-the-scenes will function as i continue to post new content here, buuut hopefully i will be able to figure it out by my lonesome!

so this is my new blog! i'm most stoked on the search function (my old search bar on blogger didn't work worth diddly-squat), CATEGORIES (!!!), archives, and an overall cleaner look and feel.

moving right along... christmas cookie time!

making sugar cookies is always fun around christmas time. especially when oodles of colorful sprinkles are involved. you could also frost them all up, but i didn't want them to stick together.

whip up your cookie dough and let it chill for a bit. then comes the fun part.

i had grand visions of a specific color of green sprinkles, but of course target duped me into buying a giant 4-pack of sprinkles just so i could get this jar of multi-colored christmassy ones.

go about making sugar cookies as usual, but gently squish a layer of sprinkles into the dough before pressing in the cookie cutter. all the remaining dough that was littered with various sprinkles by the time i had all the star shapes cut out was just rolled into balls to make some bonus chubby cookies.

i only had the largest size of star cookie cutter. i resorted to cutting free-hand stars for the littler star shapes.

bake these cuties for around 8 minutes. let them cool on a wire rack. then you can stack em up into these adorable little trees!

these make me happy just looking at them.

Sprinkled Sugar Cookie Christmas Trees

Makes 12-18 cookies (2-4 sugar cookie Christmas trees)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. almond extract

1 egg

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 - 3/4 cup colored sprinkles

star-shaped cookie cutters of varying size

Instructions-

Cream butter and sugar together. Add almond extract and egg and mix until smooth. Slowly add flour, baking soda and baking powder, mixing well until a dough forms. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for an hour, or freeze for only 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. After dough has been chilled, roll it out on a well-floured surface until the dough is less than 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle a handful of colored sprinkles onto one area of the dough and pat the area gently with a flat spatula until the sprinkles are stuck in the dough (as depicted in the photos above). Press the star-shaped cookie cutter into the sprinkled area until it cuts all the way through the dough. With a metal spatula, carefully and gently move the star shape onto the prepared (lightly greased) cookie sheet. Repeat this process using different sizes of the star-shaped cookie cutters. Roll the remaining dough into balls if you don't need to make shapes out of the entire batch of dough.

I didn't have smaller cookie cutters, so I just free-handed smaller star shapes into the dough. They're kind of goofy, but it will do the trick (and give your sugar cookie Christmas trees some character).

Place all the star cookies onto a non-stick cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown and the center is still slightly soft.

Immediately remove cookies from the baking sheet, and let cool on a wire rack.

Starting with the largest size of star at the base, build a stack of star cookies about 5-8 cookies tall, using smaller star cookies as you go, and rotating the points of the star with each layer. Place a sprinkle, mini marshmallow, or any little edible decor that could work as a tree topper on your fun little cookie tree.

enjoy all the cuteness while saving space on your holiday cookie trays at the same time!